Russia-China rail border crossing in Primorye to switch to 24/7 operations on Sept 1

VLADIVOSTOK. Aug 18 (Interfax) - The rail border crossing between Makhalino in Russia's Primorye Territory and China's Hunchun will switch to round-the-clock operations from September 1, in a step that will help increase the crossing point's throughput capacity, the press service for the Rosgranstroi federal agency in charge of Russian border infrastructure said.

"The Jilin province's border crossings administration has informed us that the Hunchun rail border crossing [which adjoins the Makhalino crossing on the Russian side of the border] is switching to round-the-clock operations. The Makhalino-Hunchun is also moving to 24/7 operations from September 1, 2022," the press service said.

The Makhalino point in Russia has been handling trains crossing the border in round-the-clock mode since March 28, 2022, whereas its previous working hours were from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. every day.

Starting September 1, once the operating schedules of the Chinese and Russian border crossings are synchronized, it will also become possible to boost the throughput capacity of the Makhalino-Hunchun rail border crossing, the press service said.

As reported, the Makhalino-Hunchun rail border crossing, which is an element of the Primorye-2 international transport corridors, handles freight traffic as part of foreign trade. The transport corridor connects China's Jilin province and the Primorye port of Zarubino (Troitsa Bay).

A total of 2.8 million tonnes of cargoes transited this border crossing in 2021, a 4.7% increase as compared to 2020.